What good does walking do? The medical professionals tell us that frequent, vigorous walks are good for our health. Walks are a good antidote to other forces that promote inertia or encourage a certain lethargy in our lives. If we’re not moving, the healers say, other harmful effects are far more likely to sneak up on us.
Can the same be said for a community?
Last Tuesday, Springdale walked, and the community is healthier for it.
Hundreds of people poured onto the streets in a Walk for Peace, an event organized by resident Irvin Camacho and some friends. Who, after all, can be against peace?
But that’s not the real question, is it? Peace is such a universal desire among people — if not necessarily among governments and some militant groups — that we sometimes forget it’s not the natural condition. People go about their lives trying to support themselves or their families. Some give back by volunteering. Many just want to be left alone. It’s easy in every community to overlook the work necessary to establish peace as the expectation.
There are forces in every community that work against peace. They come in many forms, most of them disconnected episodes of violence seen as momentary disruptions of the usual. A murder here, an assault there. All of them tragic and sad, but less daunting because they are compartmentalized.
The shock to Springdale’s system arose not just from violence, but from an apparent link between multiple episodes. First, on March 13, 18-year-old Fabian Rodriguez was gunned down on Applegate Drive in an episode that also sent a 14-year-old boy and 21-year-old woman to the hospital with gunshot wounds. Police arrested a 17-year-old on murder and battery charges.
Then, on April 11, someone in a car traveling along Savage Street pulled up in front of house. Outside was 20-yearold Jimmie Rodriguez and two others. One of the people in the car wanted to know their gang affiliations. Only one of the men acknowledged one, and gunfire erupted. Jimmie Rodriguez died of a gunshot wound. Four teens — two 18, one 17 and one 13 — suspected of being in the car have been arrested.
In between the two fatalities, two teens were arrested after shots were fired at a home on Pierce Avenue.
This is the kind of disruption to the peace that could spread. This is the kind of violence that threatens innocent bystanders. This involved bullets flying in neighborhoods and coming from apparent rivals in gangs.
This needed a community response, and did it ever get one.
The mayor and the police chief spoke out, pledging to do whatever it took to respond to violence and make arrests, while continuing and strengthening the community’s efforts to intervene with young people in ways that might persuade them to resist or even step away from any group urging violence. The city pledged more school resource officers and more patrol men and women on the streets. But Chief Kathy O’Kelley reminded everyone Springdale cannot arrest its way out of the challenges before it.
Last week’s walk demonstrated how so many people of different backgrounds care about the community of Springdale. Once upon a time, this might have become a story of us vs. them, accentuating the gaps between disparate populations. Nobody suggests gaps don’t exist, but last Tuesday’s response provides strong evidence Springdale’s residents and leaders know unity is more important than any cultural differences or misunderstandings.
That walk communicated to all that to live in a safe community requires the attention of everyone. The community needs cooperation, investment, awareness. People who want a community worth living in must stand up for that community. See something amiss? Call the police. Witness something wrong? Help them solve it.
That walk that filled the streets wasn’t just a photo opp. It was an outpouring of concern for people who love their community and care about what happens. It was a proud moment in Springdale’s history.
And yet, it’s only the beginning. It’s one thing to show up for a march, but another to stay involved, to work at making neighborhoods safe. Forget the arguments about whether to call it “gangs” or “troubled youth” and the like; it’s a distinction without much difference when shots are being fired.
Even in tragedy, Springdale can build a healthy response for the future. Efforts to promote community policing, to build trust, to strive toward a police force that looks like the population it serves — these are all steps that will make a longterm difference.
Our condolences to those who are grieving losses. In the wake of the violence, Springdale’s residents have made great strides to a brighter future through the Walk for Peace. Its spirit must continue.
Can a single walk guarantee a community’s health? No more than a single walk can cure what ails a human body. But every step Springdale’s diverse community can take together is a move toward a more peaceful future. Individuals must take responsibility for themselves, but collectively, the community can set a stage that delivers a clear message: This is a place where peace will be the standard.